Apple (AAPL) PT Lowered to $200 at Morgan Stanley; Cautious Into Print, But Buyers on Any Weakness

(Updated - April 20, 2018 9:10 AM EDT) (updated to expand analyst comment)

Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to $200.00 (from $203.00) while maintaining a Overweight rating.

Analyst Katy Huberty is expecting an in-line March quarter report but sees some downside come June quarter citing iPhone build cuts and weak China data. The analyst expects management to increase its capital return program to $150 billion and would be a buyer on any post earnings weakness citing an intact Services story, trough in estimates and the accelerated capital return program.

Huberty goes on to comment about her cautious view into the June quarter print: "We believe the June quarter consensus iPhone shipment estimate of 42.9M could be revised meaningfully lower to account for weak supply chain data points and continued weakness in China data. Our Asia smartphone supply chain team, led by Sharon Shih, recently lowered June quarter iPhone builds to 32M (from 36M previously) to account for weaker iPhone X and 8/8+ demand ahead of s expected new iPhone launch."

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